Lando Norris’ performance this season has not gone unnoticed by the higher-ups in Red Bull, as he has now been identified as their biggest rival this season. 

Speaking on this past Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, noted that the McLaren driver, who finished second, would have won the match if he started at P1, as he emphasized that not only was Norris closely tailing race winner Max Verstappen, but the gap he gave the rest of the pack was quite significant. 

He said: “If Lando would have had track position, it would have been difficult to beat them. It was so close between the two of them, and they were 18 seconds ahead of the rest.”

He then added: “I would say that Lando has emerged from the pack as the most consistent challenger.”

The use of the word ‘consistent’ here is key, as only Norris has repeatedly given Red Bull a tough time on the track. Of the 10 races so far this season, Norris has had a podium finish six times, one of which was his first win at the Miami Grand Prix. Four times, he finished second after Verstappen, and when he claimed his win at Miami, Verstappen was behind in second place. 

So Horner’s assessment of Norris has been quite fair and it is safe to say that McLaren is the team Red Bull should be worried about this year, which is a big surprise as it is not something anyone would have thought to say at the start of the season. 

Horner seems to like the competition as he said it would push his team to do better this season: “But Lando I would say, he seems to have worked out these tyres, McLaren have done a great job as well, and they’re going to push us hard for the rest of the year.”

There is no denying that McLaren has improved this season. They finished fourth last year on the Team standings, but it is obvious they may finish even better this season if they maintain their current pace, as they continue to be a threat to the title race.